Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Hungary supports proposal on EU border protection in Libya

May 17, 2017 5:15 PM

“The Hungarian Government fully supports the German-Italian proposal on the establishment of an EU border protection mission to serve in Libya”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI in Wednesday.

“Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian Government were the first to state that illegal immigrants must not be allowed into Europe, but that hotspots must instead be established outside the continent, where it can be decided who can and cannot enter Europe”, Mr. Szijjártó wrote in the statement.

“At the time, the Hungarian proposal was heavily criticised, but the situation has now changed: a few days ago the German and Italian Interior Ministers issued a joint letter calling on the European Commission to establish an EU border protection mission to serve in Libya”, he pointed out.

“The Hungarian Government fully agrees with the proposal, especially in view of the fact that 42,500 illegal immigrants have arrived in Italy until mid-April, and many more are expected to set out for the continent with the onset of good weather”, he highlighted.

“Similar proposals that are searching for a solution outside Europe will lead to a reduced threat of terrorism, in addition to which immigrants will no longer fall victim to people smugglers and will not have to risk their live trying to reach Europe illegally via dangerous migration routes. The Government supports all proposal that do not bring the problem here, but provide assistance where the trouble exists”, Mr Szijjártó explained. “Such decisions strengthen Europe”, he added.

The Sunday edition of German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported on the fact that German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti had jointly called on the European Commission to establish a European Union border protection mission to serve on the border between Libya and Niger. According to the proposal, every EU member state would have to take part in the mission.